January 1, 2006	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 29, 1426

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KARACHI, Dec 31: Third seed and international, Ali Faisal, and unseeded Ghalia Khurshid, were crowned men’s and women’s singles champion in the 43rd National table tennis championship which concluded at the Islamia Club, on Saturday.

Ali Faisal subdued team-mate and fourth seed, Saleem Abbas in four games 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 and Ghalia edged out third seed Asia Ikram (Wapda) 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 in the two finals.

“It’s like a dream coming true,” a beaming Ali told Dawn after capturing his maiden national title.

Ghalia, 17, attributed her success to strenuous training in the camp at Islamabad under supervision of Farjad Saif. This was Ghalia’s second appearance in the country’s premier championship.

Wapda, which came here with a strong squad, was expected to dominate the event and it did bag four golds, the two team events, women’s doubles and men’s singles.

Habib Bank pocketed the remaining three titles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and the women’s singles.

By winning the men’s and women’s singles, both Faisal and Ghalia ended up with a double crown. The former was member of victorious Wapda which won the team title, while the latter teamed up with Yasir to annex the mixed doubles.

Faisal, 31, the 2004 SAF Games silver medallist in team event, after dropping the opener 6-11, never looked back and earned the following four sets 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10 to wrap up the match.

Same was the case in the women’s singles final as after conceding the opener 9-11, Ghalia improved her performance with every set winning 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 to win the match in 35 minutes.

Former Test cricketer, Wasim Akram, who graced the occasion, distributed the medals.

Results:

Men’s singles (final): Ali Faisal bt Saleem Abbas 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10.

Women’s singles (final): Ghalia Khurshid bt Asia Ikram 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7.